Healthy Homes for the Miskitos of Ahuas

Building homes, communities, and home with the people of God

About Ahuas

Meaning “pine” in the Miskito language, the remote village of Ahuas is only accessible by boat or plane. There are no roads. Ahuas is the county seat of its municipality, also called Ahaus, and is located within the department of La Mosquitia - about the size of New Jersey

The people of Ahuas are mainly subsistence farmers, planting rice, beans, and yucca. Sixty-five percent of the inhabitants live on less than $1.90 a day.

To date, HFH Honduras has built, rehabbed or repaired 171 homes in La Mosquitia, most of them in the larger town of Puerto Lempira. Within the municipality of Ahuas, eleven homes have been built for disabled divers with help from the local hospital, Clinica Evangelica Morava.

The Need

Many families live in wooden homes with dirt floors. They have thatched roofs, which are cool, but they do not last long. And bamboo walls do not keep out heavy rains or mosquitoes.

• 57% of people drink water from hand-dug wells

• 76% of homes are without electricity

• 55% of households have no outhouse

The Project

Build ten homes for families in Miskito over a 12-month period. Each partner family will also have a chicken coop and ten hens as a means to increase income.

Homes will have concrete foundations, floor, and exterior walls. Interior walls, doors, windows, and rafters will be built of locally harvested rough-cut lumber (pine). Roofs will be made of corrugated tin. Each home will have two bedrooms and one larger room that functions as living and dining space.

Cost: $6,900 for the home and an additional $400 for the chicken coop and hens. All administrative costs will be covered by HFH Honduras

If you would like more information about the Ahuas project, please contact Sara Kierzek by email or call 414-517-9251.